Pump-battery system for rice irrigation.



E. M. PUMP BATTERY SYSTEM FOB RICE IRRIGATIUN.'

2 shuts-Sheet 2.

(No Modal.)

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EDMUND M. IVENS, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

PUF-BATTERY SYSTEM FOR RICE IRRIGATION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 670,784, dated March 26,1901.

Application Iiled April 16, 1898.

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDMUND M. IVENS, residing at New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and Improved Pump-Battery System for Rice Irrigation, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in the present system of pumps and operating mechanism therefor for rice irrigation in which a plurality of pumps are independently mounted near the edge of the bayou or stream at dierent points. Usually these pumps are arranged in batteries of six (more or less) of, say, one-hundred-horse power, and each pump has a separate boiler and engine and requires separate operators, (engineer and fireman,) the same being independently operated to lift the water from the bayou or stream and distribute it over the rice-iield. This arrangement of pump-batteries I have from practical experience found open to numerous objections and as not producing all of the results and advantages desired.

TheV purpose, therefore, of my invention is to provide a connected battery system of pumps which in its structure will be of a farY more substantial character than when the pumps are disconnected and operated singly or independently, which will be of a greatlyincreased efficiency over the independentlyoperated pump system, in which the'cost of the plant, as well as the cost of operation, will be greatly less than the single-pumpbattery system, and in which the entire battery of pumps will require the services of but one engineer and fireman instead of an engineer and fireman for each pump, as in the single-pump system, and in which one engine of very high horse-power is used for driving all of the pumps of the system.

Another and essential feature of this invention is to provide a construction of pumpbattery in which any one or all of the pumps can be stopped or started at the will of the operator without aecting the'drive mechanism and thelive or running pumps speeded to a greater capacity on account of decreased load during the stoppage of one or more of the pumps for repairs or other causes.

Another object of this invention is to pro- Serial No. 677.829. (No model.)

vide a novel and stable construction of pumpbattery system having a single operating or drive shaft common to all of the pumps, a single high-speed power-engine for driving the shaft, and novel connections between the several pumps and the shaft, whereby they can be set to an operative or inoperative condition at will.

Again, my invention seeks to provide a novel arrangement of driving-shaft, crib, or foundation for the pump-battery and drive means so combined and interdependently arranged as to produce a strong mechanism for the purposes specified, of a greatly-increased efficiency and reduced cost, which can be readily and easily manipulated, and which is capable of operating and producing results not attainable under the singleV or independently-operated system of pump-battery.

The invention in its more subordinate features embodies certain novel details of construction and peculiar combination of parts, all of which will hereinafter be first described and then claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating the general arrangement of my battery system. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the battery of four pumps arranged in accordance with my invention. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of a portion of the drive and jack shaft and one of the center or inside pumps and the clutch mechanism connecting it with the jack or drive shaft. Fig. 4C is a similar View of a portion of one end of the jack-shaft and one of the end pumps and its shaft-connectingmeans. Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 3 and illustrating more clearly the construction of crib or support for the battery system, and Fig. 6 is a View illustrating the manner of constructing a crib for supporting the battery in the stream. Fig. 7 is a detail section of the slip-coupling for one of the end pumps. Fig. 8 is a transverse section thereof on the line 88 of Fig. 7, and Fig. 9 is a detail longitudinal view of the right wing of the drive-shaft and the clutch devices for connecting or disconnecting the several sections thereof.

The subjoined description, together with the drawings, discloses the general principle and construction of the battery system em- IOO will

bodying my invention. I desire it understood, however, that I do not limit myself to the exact construction of parts shown and described, as various modifications in the arrangement of the several parts, particularly as to the correlation of the clutch devices for connecting the several pumps to the operating-shaft, may be made without departing from the broad idea of my invention or the scope of the appended claims.

The entire battery of pumps is mounted upon a steel frame composed of longitudinallyextending channel-irons 1, joined by castings 2, Which extend transversely over the irons 1 and have pendent lugs 2a, that fit into the hollow of the irons 1, indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5, and the said irons 1 rest upon sills 3, the whole forming a solid foundation adapted to rest upon cribbing (see Fig. 6) when the pump-battery is to set at the edge of a bayou or stream, such arrangement of parts forminga more permanent, solid, and uniform su pport for the pump-battery than is possible to I obtain by supporting the pump upon individual separate fou ndations,especially on soft or marshy land.

My improved battery system of pumps generally embodies a single drive-shaft and two or more pumps thereon capable of being operated in unison from such shaft or independently of each other from the said shaft. In the preferred arrangement two end pumps and two or the multiple of two intermediate pumps are provided, such even number of pumps being preferred to the more uniformly distribute the strain on the drive-shaft at each side of its center or point of connection with the drive means operated from a single engine of high capacity. Thedrive-shaftconsistsofacentral jack or rope drive portion 6, the ends of which terminate at 6X, (see Figs. 3 and 9,) and the said ends form journals 6u for turning in the bearings 9. (Shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 and in full lilies in Figs. l and 2.) Upon each end the jack-shaft 6 has a slidable coupling member 6, adapted to coperate with the double coupling member 6e, one of said members 6e beingkeyed upon the inner end of each shaft-section 7, which sections 7 form, as it Were, continuations of the drive or jack shaft, as shown. Upon each shaft-section 7 is mounted a sleeve 10, journaled in the bearing portions 11 of the casing 11 of the inner pump, and each of the said sleeves 10 has a feather 10a, with which the disk 18 of the said inner pump engages, as clearly shown'in detail in Fig. 3. The inner end of each sleeve 10 is also provided with a feather or spline to receive the en dwise-slidable slip-couplings 6f,

which coperate with the double-clutch members 6e. To provide for quickly causing the clutch members 6 and 6e to interlock, the double clutch 6e is equipped with an annular series of outwardlyfprojectingstuds 6g at each end to engage with the apertures ain the annular rims of the clutch members 6 and 6f, as shown. Additional shaft-sectionsS 8 are ing power.

also provided, one for each shaft-section 7, the Outer extremities of which are journaled in the end bearings 12a of the outer pump' casings 12. Said sections 8 also have feathers 8 for keying the disk members 412 to the outer pumps thereon. The inner ends of the shafts 8 are joined with the outer ends of the shafts 7 by coupling members 7"-, held to turn with the shaft-sections 7 and the slidable members L upon the coincident ends of the shaft-sections 8, the said members 7El and L also having lugs and apertures, like the members 6e, 6, and Gf, before referred to.

By joining the several shaft-sections in the manner described a very advantageous result is' obtained, by reason that the several pum ps upon each side of the driver or jack shaft section balance each other when single suctionpumps are used, and the Water enters on opposite or extreme sides into an equal number of pumps arranged at each side of the main drive-shaft or center of the entire battery of pumps. Now should it be desired to stop the middle pump at one side it is only necessary to slide back theclutch member 6f, as indi- V cated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, which releases the sleeve and its pump-disk from the driv- 'lo release the end pump and yet continue the inner or middle pump, the member 6f remains coupled to the double clutch 6e and the slip member L is disengaged from the member 7a. To quickly disconnect all of the pum ps at one side, it is only necessary to slide -back the member 6c to disengage it from the clutch member 6e. This provides for stopping the shafts 7 and 8 without stopping the jack or driver shaft.

So far as described it will be noticed the drive-shaft passes entirely through all the intermediate pumps and has its ends fitted in the casing to the outer or end pumps.

While I prefer to arrange thebattery of pumps in the manner shown and described, yet under certain conditions it may be desirable to use but two pumps. In this case to provide for one pump counteracting the entire strain of the other pump on the shaft the drive-shaft is passed through agland and stuffing-box on the side nearest the power and thence through the pump and connecting with another single suction-pump, so as to drive both. By thus connecting the driving-shaft to the pumps such shaft will be kept at all times in a true and good Working condition.

By providing a battery of pumps arranged in accordance with my invention it is obvious that a lift or suction action can be maintained at all times, even while stopping one or more pumps of the battery, without any appreciable loss of capacity, as the other or running pumps can be quickly speeded to a greater supply, or, if desired, one of the pumps of the battery held as an emergency-pump.

Usually the pump-battery is set near the edge of the bayou, but under some circumstances better results can be obtained by placing the pump mechanism directly within the IOO IIO

etw/s4 stream. In such case the battery is supported on a crib especially constructed, as shown in Fig. 6.

One of the great advantages of my system of pumps is that instead of driving each pump singly and employing an engineer, dac., for each pump and using, say, six pumps of onehundred-horse power each in the battery I can use one engine of six hundred horse power and one set of boilers therefor with but one engineer and fireman and one rope or drive means common to all pumps. Another advantage is I provide for a vast collection of water where streams or springs are shallow, as the suction or lift action can be so distributed as to give a smaller quantity with each pump where an insufficiency in supply would not admit of working a large pump to its full capacity. Again, water is distributed through each pump direct, and one pump can be stopped and the supply thereof cutoif when not wanted, thereby saving fuel, which could not be done where the pumping is effected by a single large pump.

While I have not described any special form of centrifugal pump to be used in connection with my arrangement of pump-battery, yet I prefer to employ that kind of pump as is specifically described and illustrated in my copendingapplication,SerialNo.662,487. When this form of pump is used, I connect the several pumps of the battery by pipes having valves (see dotted lines in Fig. 2) which enter the pumps above the valve of the induction-pipe, the purpose of which is to fill any of the pumps above the Water-valve (priming it, as it were) when the column of water has been lost by something entering the valve or stopping it for any other reason.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

ment with the jack-shaft and forming a continuation thereof; independently` operated clutch mechanism for joining the several sectional shaft portions and for joining that section of shaft adjacent the jack-shaft with the said jack-shaft; a sleeve mounted on the inner shaft-section; a clutch mechanism for throwing the said sleeve into or out of a xed engagement with the said inner shaft-section, one of the pumps being mounted upon the sleeve and having its disk ixedly connected therewith, and a pump mounted on the outer shaft-section havingits piston fiXedly connected therewith,all being arranged substantially as shown, whereby one or all of the pumps can be thrown out of operation without stopping the jack-shaft.

2. In a pumping mechanism as described, the combination with the jack-shaft 6, the shaft-sections 7 and 8, held in a plane with the jack-shaft, a double clutch 6e held on the end of the shaft-section 7, a clutch member on the jack-shaft for cooperating with the clutch 6e, a sliding-clutch connection for joining the adjacent ends of the shaft-sections 7 and 8; of a pump having its disk member connected directly to the shaft-section 8, a sleeve mounted on the shaft-section 7 to turn freely thereon, a pump having its disk held on the sleeve to turn therewith, and a sliding clutch 6" on the sleeve adapted to engage the double clutch 6", all being arranged substantially as shown and described.

EDMUND M. IVENS.

Witnesses:

B. W. BARR, W. E. BIRCHMO'RE. 

